I’d like to install/run Kicksecure from my “EAGET USB 3.2 Solid State Pen Drive” as described here. (Im not set on Kicksecure, just read about it on privacyguides; open for suggestions! I just want something … well secure and easy to use.
… However, my Windows PC does not recognize the USB with Debian as a bootable medium.
What I did:
- Download debian-live-12.5.0-amd64-xfce
- Flash it to USB with balenaEtcher
- Try to boot from it in all possible ways
I also tried other Linux distributions like Mint and Ubuntu … nothing gets recognized on that USB, expect Tails. After it recognizes it as UEFI OS and I select Harddisk Mode.
Tails is amazing, love it! But I just don’t really need Tor, and mostly I need to use an App that will simply not connect via the Tor network and cannot be configured to do so.
Thank you very much 😊
Edit: Not everything can boot on windows I guess. But in my case Ubuntu suddenly could after turning off the PC and remove it from its power source.
What PC do you have? Is it company’s PC with locked BIOS? Did you set the bootable flag on the usb partition? Can you test the capacity of the flash drive and verivy it’s not fake?
could solve it: https://lemmy.ml/comment/8727647
You can update the title as [solved].
I have a cheap USB drive that doesn’t work as a bootable medium too (except for Ubuntu and maybe some other specific distros). Though I suspect this issue apppeared after I dropped it from like 1.3 meters height. Anyways it can be a malfunction or your drive just doesn’t properly support it. What is your hardware though? Are you sure you need the UEFI mode and not the legacy BIOS mode?
Are you sure you need the UEFI mode and not the legacy BIOS mode?
im not. and i dont even understand that question 🙈
but the stick is new and should not be too bad: https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005006057488603.html
… did you seriously buy a USB drive from AliExpress? ಠ_ಠ
yes and my pc too 😅
Don’t do that. Many malicious actors can put malware on Aliexpress tech products and sell it to get credit card information, create a botnet (similar to gaining remote access) or spy on you for the government
I question the legitimacy of Kicksecure because they have some strange design choices from their About page, but I digress. I understand that’s not your main concern at this time.
Do you have a non-USB 3 drive available? I’ve seen some firmware have issues with the newer standards. Have you tried different ports?
omg pls do digress! like i said, im reallly open to other distros.
did try other ports.
dont have another usb. i like this one cuz its fast and i dont want to buy a new one before being sure it will work.
As someone who does do a lot of embedded work professionally, including custom kernel development and security research, I don’t think the developers of the distro really understand what they wish to accomplish. They don’t understand the technologies they are working with and how it fits into a good security posture. Let me cherry pick some examples from their website:
Torified operating system (apt) upgrades
Routing your upgrades through Tor seems really silly to me. Your packages are already authenticated using strong cryptography, and if you’re concerned about Debian core repositories signing packages with their keys just to target you in particular, use a mirror. There’s plenty of them. Debian maintainers won’t know what you’re downloading, and if you fear the maintainers as part of your threat model, then perhaps a Debian-based distribution that implicitly trusts those maintainers is the wrong choice.
TCP Initial Sequence Numbers Randomization prevents TCP ISN-based CPU Information Leaks; see footnote.
Okay… that seems rather contrived. They don’t cite any sources, and I’ve never heard of this being a security concern.
Better encryption is achieved via preinstalled random number generators.
Woah, “better” encryption! That’s a pretty extreme claim without establishing that there’s anything wrong with how Linux already generates random numbers, which has been extensively studied and attacked. I’d be way more shy of their tweaks introducing security bugs. Do not get creative with cryptography.
I can’t take their work seriously, I’m sorry. It sounds like a lot of hope and not a whole lot of experience.
TCP Initial Sequence Numbers Randomization prevents TCP ISN-based CPU Information Leaks;
Seems to be related to this: https://github.com/Kicksecure/tirdad
Although it looks like it’s literally just slightly possible to leak the load on the system. It’s hard to pull off, and isn’t precise enough to leak anything important.
As you’re currently using Windows on your PC, you might have to do an extended reboot. By default Windows skips the UEFI/USB step in the boot sequence to make Windows boot slightly faster.
Check out this link for reference’ https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/boot-to-uefi-mode-or-legacy-bios-mode?view=windows-11
seems to involve disabling secure boot, not happy with that. will cause more paranoia 😬
Does secureboot really help?
No.
Yes